Just aboot here?
Posted on 12/01/2010 11:39:58 AM PST by JimVT
Seriously.
You allow a sticker placed on a steak by the United States Government to dictate your purchasing decsions?
And where is it in the constitution that says the government even has the authority to “grade” beef?
Sheesh.
Way back when during my college years, I worked a couple of summers at a packing house.
On the beef line, we usually saw 300 lb or so beef halves come swinging down the line. There were a few huge bulls that would come down almost dragging on the floor.
By watching the inspectors (my job was to help move the carcasses into the cold room immediately after the inspection station), I learned what is and isn't prime. It's pretty simple, but the fine scale marbling that is prime doesn't show up in the retail stores - nor is it apparent after the meat has been cooked. What you see in the best of the retail isn't really prime (using the 1970 standards), but a reasonable approximation to 1970 choice - which has been elevated to prime in the ensuing years.
But on a couple of occasions the carcasses were from milk cows - extremely skinny & bony & lightweight. I was told they were destined for the school lunch program. If so, it was a real rip-off, as the meat to bone ratio was miniscule. There seemde to be more tendon and gristle than muscle on those scrawny things. I think (but may be wrong) that the inspectors that checked the usual run of beef didn't have to bother with these.
About five years ago, I prepared bacon-wrapped dove for some Hindu friends. They loved them. So much for sacred animals. These Indians are now pretty well assimilated and eat beef, pork and poultry. One of the kids’ favorites: Bratwurst!
OMG! LMAO! Actually I buy my beef at Sams. It is alway Choice and you can’t . . . . aw never mind. LOL
Too funny. LOL
That’s a keeper for Jimmy
Not sure what you mean, Jim.
Can you be more specific?
Just aboot here?
Why is it the government’s job to tell you how good your meat is?
If the government wasn’t involved, you could encourage meat sellers to find a good 3rd-party company to inspect meat and grade it, and if they didn’t do it right you could vote with your wallet until they did.
But now you are screwed, and your only recourse is to whine to congress and hope that your representative can talk a bunch of other representatives into voting to make things better for you — all the while the guys with the big bucks are paying them campaign contributions to make things better for THEM.
Get the government out of the meat-grading business. The Jews have no problem figuring out who sells Kosher products.
The problem in my area, Granny, is that CAB is the ONLY label in their cooler.
These markets used to label usda choice or select but no longer.
And for the folks who don’t want the government grading beef...who should do it....the SELLER!!!
It’s directly beneath the tail...
Do y’all have any idea what goes on at the stockyard auctions?Those skinny cows are canners, thats what ya eat in campbells soup.When a known producer of fine beef bring his cattle to market, the large volume buyers know who he is and bid accordingly, bringing higher prices.That producer might bring a hundred head at a time for auction, the little guy can not compete in buying that.Now, you have also smalll but exquisite producers, fine grain fed cattle, but maybe only ten to fifteen head at a time, small butcher shops can buy those cuz the big guys can’t be bothered with such small purchase. Then you got the giants, the food chains, that have to buy thousands of head a day to keep their stores stocked. Out of the thousand they buy they may have gotten several small lots of prime cattle but they market it all as select or choice.
To all:
I used to work in a meat packing plant. I followed a USDA grader in the cooler and put the grade on the carcasses with a roller and an ink can filled with food grade ink. At that time there were 4 grades. Prime. Choice. Good. and utility. The select grade didn’t come until later when some do-good dieticians and politicians began worrying about consumer health.
All the grade measured was the amount of marbling/fat in the meat. Prime has the most marbling and so on.
As far as determining the breed of a carcass after the skin is off and it is hanging in the cooler, I found it impossible to tell. The only way is by the id tag put on the carcass at time of kill.
For more information. Holstein cattle are dairy. The meat is a different color as well as the fat. And, dairy carcasses are relatively easy to identify by their shape when hanging in a cooler.
Interestingly, Certified Angus Beef does not have to come from the Angus breed.
ROTFLMAO
.....with thick cut bacon and carmalized onions - OMG
Angus is highly marbled, thats why it is so tasty...Our cow Spot was a black angus...highly marbled and tasty...we called her Spot cause she was that black spot out in the pasture...she loved pumpkins during the fall...just throw it over the fence so it broke apart and she would come running....
So far as I am aware Angus is still a name for a breed of cattle so beef is either Angus beef or it is not. Is there some other meaning to Angus beef?
Complain to your meat seller and tell your congressman to force the USDA to stop this fraud!
Don't go whining to the government to solve every tiny problem. It isn't the government's job to hold your little hand and walk you through your grocery purchase. It isn't the government's job to educate you about what the various grades of meat look like.
You may wish to try the following:
1. Buy your meat from a reputable source, preferably from a butcher who processes his own carcasses. If your market manager says "It's choice or select", don't shop there. It really is that simple. You may have to travel a bit to find a real butcher, but since you are complaining, it's clearly something that bothers you.
"Butchers" in many grocery stores don't know much about meat. The meat comes to the store prepackaged & it's the "butcher's" job to set it out in the case.
Try and find a piece of meat with the "Certified Angus Beef" (CAB) sticker on it that also has the acceptable USDA grade on it. Very difficult, if at all.
2. Refuse to buy unmarked meat.
So how are we supposed to know which? I don't knowingly buy "select"
4. Educate yourself about what the various cuts should look like. It isn't difficult and it isn't the government's job.
5. Utilize market forces to make the changes you'd like to see made. In other words, don't shop in stores which don't do the right thing and ask others to do the same.
When it comes to the meat industry in America, 99% of the people are SOFA KING STUPID!This is not directed to you personaly but citizens in general.
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